"Halloween” 2018 Review
"Halloween" is the sequel to the first "Halloween" directed by John Carpenter. Not to be confused with its remake directed by Rob Zombie, also titled "Halloween". In short, this is Halloween II but not to be confused with "Halloween II" 1981 and "Halloween II" 2009. This retcons every other Halloween film. Meaning Laurie Strode and Michael Myers are not siblings. The massacre in the first film was random and Laurie Strode has been psychologically preparing for The Shape's return for the last 40 years. I like this premise. I love when old protagonists are revisited and deconstructed -think Luke Skywalker, Wolverine, and Sarah Connor. It's an absolute blast to see Jamie Lee Curtis return to her iconic role as the OG final girl and, in a brilliant way, the once hunted has become the huntress. She's scarred and has a rocky relationship with her daughter and the rest of her family. This is awesome and I wished the movie focused more on that. The other half of the movie is just a dumb slasher about a dude killing a bunch of no names and horny teenagers. If you're into that, then, you're into that. I'm not.
A lot of people think of Horror movies as the dumb teen slasher movie. Movies where characters make dumb decisions that lead to their brutal demise with some cheap (fake) jump scares through in for the shock value. I guess this movie is slightly different because it's partly a comedy with a nonsensical bit about bánh mì shoved into the middle of things. It's a lot tonal whiplash. The characters are dumb and funny and when they get murdered, it's still dumb and funny and suddenly Michael Myers becomes this incomprehensible figure of new aged slapstick. I don't how intentional this was but that's how I felt and people in my theatre also thought it was funny. I honestly don't know what the movie is trying to do most of the time. The original had funny moments, but they were brief and felt organic to the plot. The humour in this movie threw a wrench into its pacing and a lot of it were basically improv'd comedic banter that just kept going for way too long.
There are a lot of callbacks to the original but they're more than simple references, which I enjoyed. Sequences are shot-for-shot references from the original but examined in a new thematic context. And by the time third act rolls around, stakes feel high and the spectacle is great and the sequence is anchored by an incredible performance from Jamie Lee Curti all the way to its somewhat abrupt ending.
I'm not gonna pretend that I like the original Halloween (I'm in the minority that thinks the remake is more enjoyable). I'm also not going to pretend that I like this new Halloween. Most of the movie treads the same ground as its 1978 predecessor and it doesn't really change much of the formula. Just like the original, it's a mediocre horror movie with a nail biting final act. Halloween would be a forgettable teen slasher If it were not called "Halloween".